Heineken Cup Final Preview

This is my Heineken Cup final preview; Toulon will face Saracens in Cardiff on May 24^th. Both teams will fancy their chances of turning the other side over and will go hell for leather to win this one. Toulon will want to defend the title they won back in May 2013. Both sides are littered with International stars of the World game. On the Saracens side you have Brits, Farrell, Ashton and both the Vunipola’s Mako and Billy. On the Toulon side you have real quality with Wilkinson, Botha , Rossouw , Smith , Habana and the Armitage brothers Steffon and Delon.

Both sides are well coached by Bernard Laporte and Mark Mc Call , Mc Call has already won this competition as a head coach back in 1999 with Ulster so he will have no fears about facing Toulon. His Saracens side will be well prepared for this one as this is their first European final and that may also play into Toulon hands because of their previous final experience in both the Amlin and Heineken Cup finals of 2010 and 2013.

I just feel after both sides respective semi-finals where Munster ran Toulon so close and Saracens dispatched Clermont with such ruthless aggression that this final is set up to be a classic and a fitting way to bring the curtain down on this competition as we know it. Can Toulon do what Leicester Tigers did back in 2001 and 2002 and win back to back titles or will Saracens and there wolfpack defence led by Jacques Burger seize the day and win a first European crown for Saracens.

Owen Farrell and Jonny Wilkinson will have major roles to play in their team’s quest for victory. As it stands Wilkinson leads the one on one match ups 1-0 after handing Farrell a lesson in the 2013 semi final. Can Farrell redress the balance and make it 1-1 before Wilkinson hangs up his boots.

For me I just think Toulon may just have too much for Saracens on the day and could do the double and win a 2^nd European crown in a row. I am going to but my neck on the line and say Toulon will win this won by 30-18. Toulon’s experience in European final to be the difference.

 

By

Cian Mc Gibney.

14/05/2014.

Letter Of Thanks

I am writing again this time to thank everyone for their support and kind words since last Thursday  when I put my open letter out there. Since I did it I feel much better and at ease with myself. The level of support I have received amazed me and touched me deeply. I hope my openness can help anyone that may find themselves in a similar situation in the future.

 I have done a lot of thinking in the last few days and after speaking to both close friends and family I now realise that I have a lot to live for. I made a massive mistake last February by not asking for help but I now feel strong enough to open my mouth and say something. Also after reading a book on Donal Walsh I realise the true meaning of his message to” live life”.

So now as we head into summer 2014 I just hope I can put the last 6 months behind me and now focus on the here and now. To Anyone who offered me help if I ever got into bother again I will be on the phone ASAP. Thank you all so much , I am so grateful to have people who care for me.

Regards

Cian.

An open letter to my friends

I am just writing this letter to tell the people closet to me what I have been going through over the last few months , I have expressed my feelings to a few people which has elevated some of my pain. On the night Ireland played England I was at my lowest point and I came to a place I find helps me relax my grandparents home.

Then I began what I thought was the last few moments of my life. I began to write a number of goodbye letters to the people that I am now writing this letter too. I just felt on that day that I couldn’t go on. This is not the first time this has happened to me, in fact it is the 3rd time I have thought about suicide.

Not an easy thing for me to admit but now that I have I find things are much better and I thank one person in particular because if he did not phone this house on that night , I may not be here now writing this letter. Thanks to a number of close friends who I am truly grateful to. They know who they are I don’t need to name check them.

 But everyday since that night I thank my lucky stars that I let them know how I was feeling and they were a great help to me. To my friends I am grateful that you are such a good bunch and also that you have always been there for me at every turn. I am feeling much better since that night and I am trying my best never to end up in that place again.

To you all I thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart.

Regards

Cian.